


Barefoot

by kissability



Series: Gawsten Oneshots [7]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Awsten is a lowkey nerd, Geoff is a college athlete, M/M, this is just fluff tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 12:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11760192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissability/pseuds/kissability
Summary: After Awsten's shoes are drowned in the school's pool and he misses the bus, he's forced to walk home - barefoot.Or at least it sure as hell seems like it.





	Barefoot

There he was, walking down the street, his feet touching the concrete and a damp pair of vans in one of his hands. He also happened to be soaking wet himself, which frankly sucked. A lot.

You see, some boys at school thought it'd be oh-so-funny to toss his new shoes in the middle of the pool. At the very end of the day, when there was no coach to fish them out for him. 

So, as fate decided, he had to get them himself. by diving into the pool headfirst, because again, no one else was willing to grab them for him. They were brand new, what did anyone expect him to do? Confront his mom about the bullying? He'd rather suck off Donald Trump than tell her about them.

Okay, maybe that was pushing it a bit too far. 

Lucky for him, he'd also missed his bus. So now he was forced to walk to his apartments, alone and barefoot. Three miles away.

He'd gotten one mile down so far, and he was pretty sure the rocks had managed to get at least three layers underneath his skin at this point.

It hurt so bad, but his parents were at work and  Gracie was busy, not that she would drive him home anyways. "You'll live," He could hear her say already.

It was a big disappointment, actually. His sister was barely sixteen and had her own car while he was eighteen, his last two months of highschool, and all he had was an eviction notice from his parents.

So, he just continued letting his feet burn and his hair (and clothes) dry up, cursing loudly to himself every time a rock would wedge it's way underneath one or both of his feet.

(Spoiler Alert: Every three seconds or so.)

And he kept walking, and dragging along, until ultimately giving up when he hit a park.

Reluctantly, he stopped at a park bench near the sidewalk. He checked his location on his phone, and tried as hard as he could not to break out into stress tears because he had another mile and a half and he seriously could not take this anymore. He was about to reach the shitty part of town, and there was glass all over the concrete. He sighed loudly. That meant he had to take the other way, which was another three miles. Fuck.

As he let his head fall into his hands, he felt tears fall out of his eyes. This... was a mess. The sun beat down on his skin, and his shoes still weren't dry, and god, his feet were so tired. He made a note to himself to start exercising more because honestly, this was getting pathetic.

So, he continued to cry into his arm on the sidewalk at four o'clock in the afternoon. That is, until he felt someone tap on his shoulder. "Um, excuse me? Are you okay, dude?"

Awsten looked up, being greeted by a fairly muscular guy with bright blue eyes and mid-length brown hair. He quickly wiped away his tears with his arms and sniffled, breathing in. "Y-yeah." He replied. "I'm- I'm fine. Why?"

The guy smirked slightly before looking at his feet for a second. "Well, uh, I was just going for a run, and then I happened to see a boy with light blue hair sobbing to himself, covered in water on the sidewalk with a pair of vans in his hands. I figured I should ask what's wrong. You look lost."

Awsten let out a raspy laugh, turning his head and wiping his eyes again. "I um, some guys from school just threw my shoes into the pool at school, and they're brand new." He paused to catch his breath, "And the coach wasn't there, it was the end of school, so I had to dive in, fully clothed and get them myself."

"Why didn't you just leave them?" The man asked, now moving to sit next to Awsten. Awsten wasn't exactly sure why he decided to confide in this stranger, but ignored it because he was here, and that was what mattered.

"I told you, they're brand new." Awsten replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well then, why are you crying and sitting here? Why aren't you home?"

"The end of school. So, I missed the bus thanks to them - my bus driver wouldn't have let me on anyways, being I look like a drenched rat. The reason I'm not home is because my apartment complex is a mile and a half away, the one on 88th." Awsten scoffed, resting his head on his hand.

"Okay. So, I'll give you a ride." The stranger responded, crossing his arms.

Awsten looked up at the stranger and knitted his eyebrows together. "Thanks, but no. I'm not getting into a car with someone I just met on the street. I don't even know your name."

"My name is Geoff, with a G instead of a J, and I'm not going to drive you there, idiot. I don't have my car with me, I was on a run. Just tell me what apartment complex it is and I'll give you a piggyback ride to it."

Awsten considered the offer. "Okay." He spoke. "It's Springbrooke. Are you sure you want to carry me, on your back, through there though?"

Geoff laughed. "Please, I probably bench more than you weigh on a daily basis. But either way, much to your luck, I live in the complex as well. My university isn't far from here and I don't like living on campus, so..."

Awsten nodded. "Alright, yeah," He stood up. "You can give me a ride. I sort of trust you. Thanks, by the way."

The guy, Geoff, smiled. "It's no problem. What's your name, by the way?"

"Awsten. With a W, instead of a U." Awsten smiled in response.


End file.
